Dr. Ann Geiger serves as the Director of the Center for Strategic Scientific Initiatives. Dr. Geiger is a highly skilled epidemiologist with over a decade of experience at NCI and almost 30 years of experience as a researcher focused on cancer outcomes. Her ability to design scientifically rigorous and feasible studies in the clinical environment has been invaluable to NCI. Over the last decade, she has guided numerous scientists and clinicians in their efforts to bring cancer care delivery research to people in their local communities, a collaboration between the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and the NCI Community Oncology Research Program in the Division of Cancer Prevention. She also led the development of a scientific vision and operating structure for the Healthcare Delivery Research Program in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, which laid the foundation for substantial growth of extramural funding in this area.
Dr. Geiger serves as a thought leader, working across the cancer community in her role as senior editor at the (non-affiliated) Journal of the National Cancer Institute to think critically about the work we are doing. This includes identifying scientific gaps, crafting initiatives and technological innovations designed to support research, and developing the next generation of cancer researchers.
Before coming to NCI, Dr. Geiger was an NCI-funded extramural investigator, leading studies that demonstrated the benefits and risks of cancer prevention and treatment strategies, with the goal of empowering patients’ decision-making. She was involved in some of the earliest research looking at the adverse impact of inadequate treatment of cancer in older adults. As director of the CSSI, Dr. Geiger brings the creative and innovative thinking to capitalize on opportunities in cancer research.